Expectations and Suppositions
by sxevlbtch
Summary: "You know what is expected of you?" Jeanine says in hushed tones. While someone else might have leapt for joy that Jeanine Matthews deigned to speak in their general direction, I do not. No, Jeanine Matthews had spent the last six years drilling into my head what she expected. Both figuratively and literally.
1. Chapter 1

Expectations and Suppositions

AN: Hi all! This is likely going to be very AU, as I have not read the Divergent Trilogy/ watched all the films. That being said, I still think this is going to be a fun story and get me back into the writing spirit. Also, why has no one written a Divergent/ Firefly cross-over yet?!

Also, I am actively looking for a Beta for this who is familiar with Divergent Trilogy and Firefly. If you fit that bill, please PM me!

A little heads up: There will be no war on Divergents. Choosing age is 18, and the rest you should be able to piece together.

Chapter 1

XXX

I stand at the top of the stairs leading into the amphitheater. I was dressed in my starched blue dress and matching heels. The image of Erudite perfection, and the living embodiment of the standards Jeanine Matthews expected from her faction.

And as I stand there, looking out over the sea of faction colors, Jeanine is exactly who I _feel _move to stand next to me.

"You know what is expected of you?" Jeanine says in hushed tones.

While someone else might have leapt for joy that Jeanine Matthews deigned to speak in their general direction, I do not. No, Jeanine Matthews had spent the last six years drilling into my head what she expected. Both figuratively and literally.

"Yes mother." I reply robotically, as expected.

She doesn't respond verbally, only with a simple curt nod before moving to take her place at the head of Erudite.

_"__Oh course I know what you expect." _I think as I descend the stairs and moves to sit with the others in my class. _"I know what you all expect."_

I don't pay attention to what Marcus Eaton or any of the other faction leaders say to start the choosing day ceremony. I don't need to. I know what they are going to say before the words leave their mouths.

After the expected speeches are made, they begin to call the names of this years initiates. One by one, they descend to the front of the room to seal their fate with blood and fire.

"River Matthews."

Marcus Eaton calls out, and it is only then that I pay attention to what is going on around me.

I rise from my seat and calmly walk the few steps down to the front. I slowly draw the blade into my hand and slice a superficial line in my skin. I allow the blood to pool in my palm before I set the blade down and cast my fate in the coals.

What happens next is not met with applause like the other initiates had when they selected their faction.

No, my action is met with silence as Marcus Eaton calls out my choice.

"Dauntless."

No one dares to utter a sound as I move to sit with my new faction. No, they're all too preoccupied at looking at my mother, who sits silently. She'd never let it show, never let her perfect stone-faced expression falter, but she's radiating blinding anger.

I don't smile, despite how tempting it is.

But I _feel _someone smiling. Someone further up and towards the back. One person has taken a small momentary sliver of joy at seeing Jeanine Matthew's world tilt off axis.

_"__Interesting." _The thought floats into my brain as the next name is called and the ceremony continues.

XXX

As the last name is called, and the initiate takes their seat in their new chosen faction. I feel it, feel the excitement from everyone coiling into a pit in my stomach. Feel the surge of energy as everyone begins to exit the amphitheater.

I let myself sink into it and be pulled along with the exiting crowd. It's like rushing water all around me, carrying me away to somewhere unknown. _She_ won't break her perfect facade here, but I know she will try and come for me soon enough. She will try and use every loophole, every snare, every dirty tactic to try and get me back to Erudite. But I've been planning for this day for a long time, and while the war with Jeanine may be looming, I am going to enjoy my momentary victory.

As the crowd of Dauntless initiates breaks into a run as they hit the street, I immediately kick off the impractical heels and run along with the others. We make it to the tracks with seconds too spare as the train slows down momentarily and the Dauntless born being to jump aboard.

I force myself to take one breath more than they do before I jump. They had been groomed for this initiation from birth. I hadn't, and I didn't need anyone the wiser as to why I knew exactly what to do and when.

It's mainly Dauntless born in the compartment I jump into. They size me up, eye me suspiciously, in my 'perfect' blue dress. I can _feel _that no one wants me here; they think I don't belong. They may be right. But I am not about to let them see that.

No one bothers to approach me, they just talk amongst themselves in low whispers, but after a few minutes I feel their energy pick up again.

The next jump is almost here.

While the first jump had been manageable in my Erudite dress, this next one would be challenging. I lean down quickly and begin yanking at one of the seams to give myself more maneuverability to make this next jump. That's when I hear the first of the Dauntless born turn their attention towards me.

"It won't matter. You'll fall anyways." His friends snicker in response.

I close my eyes and breathe. _"Engage people with what they expect."_ It's better they think I'll fail.

They don't have time for any other taunts though as our rooftop destination approaches. One of Dauntless born slides the door they are standing near open and they begin to prepare for the jump.

I move to the door I am near and do the same, and just as before I force myself to take a breath and take a second longer than the Dauntless born. The one thing I don't hide is the roll I tuck into after I jump. The landing will hurt all the same given the exposed skin of my legs and feet, but at least the gravel of the roof won't cut me as if I hadn't. The roll can also look accidental, and reinforce the idea that I am not cut out to be here.

After two rolls I spring to my feet and gingerly walk on the gravel to where the our 'welcoming committee' stands ready to greet us. The Dauntless born aren't subjected to this, it's meant to weed out the weak willed transfers… if jumping from a moving train five stories up hadn't already.

I turn around to see how many other transfers are in my class. There are at least twenty. A handful from Candor and a few bigger jock types from Amity, both with a good mix of girls and guys. There were also a few guys from Erudite, ones that fit the stereotypical egotistical mold that usually transferred to Dauntless. I was the only female transfer from Erudite. There are no transfers from Abnegation this year, which isn't too surprising.

I can _feel_ them all sizing me up the way that the Dauntless born did. Again, I know that none of them want me here. But for vastly different reasons. To the Dauntless born I was weak, incapable of holding up the ideals of Dauntless. They were practically assured they would make it thru initiation. But to the transfers? To the other transfers, I am a threat. Something that threatens their place in their chosen home. Something foreign and menacing…

They all expect me to be just like _her_.

But that's when I feel it again. Feel the one person who enjoyed seeing the spectacle of my defection is waiting for us on a ledge in front of a dark opening in the roof. He stands there in his full uniform looking like a shark on dry land. His grin looks deadly, like he's just waiting to take a bite out of all of us and make us bleed.

"I'm Eric, I'm one of your leaders. And this is Zeke, one of your trainers for initiation."

"If you want to enter Dauntless, this is the way in, and if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless."

The reality of the situation is hitting the other transfers. A tingling of fear pulsating between every breath they take.

"So, who's first?" Eric asks with a menacing grin.

I only feel anxious to get off this roof. I don't say anything as I walk towards the edge he had just been standing on and step up. Again, I want to give nothing away, and wait momentarily to appear trepidatious. Eric wants to say something, but he's also curious as to what I will do.

I allow myself to smile as an idea forms in the back of my mind. I slowly reach down and continue to rip the Erudite blue away from my body, all the way up until I can easily slide it off me like a robe. I'm left in nothing but my black underwear. It's symbolic, if only for me, shedding the last vestige of Erudite I will ever visibly wear. Even if I can't get rid of the other scars so easily.

I let it hit the roof behind me, take a breath, and fall into the darkness with my arms spread out, welcoming the great unknown underneath me.

I allow my body to shift in the air and by the time I land in the net below I am on my back and fighting to contain the laughter that threatens to bubble up out of me.

I then feel the net tilt and my body roll to one side.

"WOAH." Someone says they help me off the net. He blushes and quickly tries to divert his attention to anywhere but me.

"Did you purposely lose the clothes or did they make you strip?" The woman with the clipboard asks between chuckles at her associates reaction.

"I didn't need it anymore." I say with a shrug.

"Whatever you say. Name?" She says as she gets ready to write down what I give her.

"River… Tam."

"First Jumper, River Tam." The woman yells while the man still looks flustered. "Welcome to Dauntless. I'm Lauren, and that's Four." She says motioning towards the guy still blushing and averting his gaze.

"You can grab some training clothes from the room over there." She says as she motions to the left side of the open area we are standing in. "We'll be here until all the transfers are off the roof." She says as the next jumper hits the net.

"Thanks." I say as I quickly walk towards the direction she pointed me towards.

XXX

It didn't take me long to find some clothing that would fit me from the supply room Lauren had pointed me towards. I quickly grab a tank top, hoodie, leggings, socks, and boots in my size and start to pull them on. I'm faced away from the door, but I can feel someone enter, quietly creeping in behind me.

"Nice to see you too." I don't need to look to know who either. He doesn't say anything or acknowledge my statement until I turn around.

He's leaning against the door, his arms over his chest in manner that says he's relaxed. But his smile is anything but relaxed. It's tense, like he's seeing a ghost from his past he didn't think he would.

"You've changed." He says finally after his eyes roam up and down. He's seeing what he expects, and what he doesn't. Apprising and hunting for clues as to why I'm here.

I mimic his stance, we still had a few minutes before the jumpers would be done. "Six years will do that to someone."

"You're still tiny, little mouse." He says with a smirk.

He's expecting to get a rise out of me by calling me little mouse. It used to infuriate me that he would call me that, as I always longed to be accepted by him and my brother.

Eric and Simon had been best friends growing up in Erudite. They'd been practically joined at the hip in their younger years. His parents and our mother had left us together to fend for ourselves for the most part, as they were far too busy with their work to concern themselves with us. It suited Simon and Eric just fine for the most part, and they did their best to tolerate the annoying 'little mouse' who tagged along and loved to correct them. Simon was more patient of the two.

It all changed though, when they left six years ago. Simon followed his heart to be with Kaylee in Amity, while Eric followed his dreams to be in Dauntless.

A shiver runs over my scalp and quickly try think of anything but the last six years.

I merely shrug, and his eyes narrow in response. When this doesn't work as he expected he takes a few purposeful strides towards me so he can look down at me from his literal and metaphorical height of power.

He bends down slightly and leans in slightly to whisper in my ear. "Why are you here?"

I'm sure it is the million dollar question everyone is dying to know. Both of Jeanine Matthew's children defecting? The scandal!

It will also not go unnoticed that I had used the surname Simon selected for himself when the names of initiates and rankings are posted for the other factions. But the answer to Eric's question is both complicated and dangerous, when my future in Dauntless is anything but secure. After all, I don't know who Jeanine has sunk her claws into or how far her grasp truly reaches.

I try to move around him and leave. But he quickly sidesteps to block me and then grabs my forearm to hold me in place. "I asked you a question Initiate."

I can't help the smile that pulls at the corner of my lips and quirk my head at him. "Pulling rank already? Your interrogation tactics are getting rusty if that's what you resort to from the start."

His eyes narrow. "And your insubordination to your _Leader_ will not win you any favors."

I don't turn away from his gaze, but I weigh my next words before I speak them. "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

He smiles again, like he did at the choosing ceremony. It's momentary, but shows some understanding, even if he but does not quite comprehend what I mean yet. He plays it off well though. "Nice to see you remember your Sun Tzu. Let's see how well it serves you over the next ten weeks."

He doesn't release my arm though, and he doesn't back away. It's then that I feel something else. A momentary crack in his serious facade, a hairline fracture in his armor; a flicker of…affection.

_"__She's not the little mouse we left in Erudite anymore." _It's an errant thought bubbling up from his subconscious.

And as his conscious thoughts catch up to that thought, the flicker is suppressed. He doesn't say anything else to me as he turns and leaves me in the supply room.

XXX

AN: So what do we think?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

XXX

I exited the supply room and move to join the group of initiates in my class. If anyone had seen Eric enter or exit, it doesn't register in their thoughts.

All of the initiates have made it off the roof and are milling around. Training is about to commence.

"Dauntless-born, go with Lauren and Zeke, transfers stay with me and Tris." Four yells out to the crowd.

The Dauntless- born follow Lauren and Zeke obediently. The transfers look at them peeling off and start to feel anxious. Their anxiety is nauseating. They made their choice, they shouldn't be this jumpy at every new development.

"My name's Four. Most of the time I work in Intelligence, but during your training, I'll be your instructor with Tris." He says as he motions to the woman standing near him.

From the look he gives her as he introduces her, I can tell there is a familiarity between them, more than just working together. The look she gives him in return confirms it.

"We'll start by showing you around Dauntless." She says and they start to leave in the opposite direction from where Lauren took her initiates.

I follow along towards the back, but I don't listen to what they say they show us around. It's what everyone is not saying that is more useful, and I carefully cataloging what I hear.

It's different than Erudite. Erudite had been whispers and silent machinations schooled behind pretense. Every movement, every gesture, every stand of hair out of place gave someone a piece of information. Something they would use against you, like a viper, when the moment was right.

But in Dauntless, everything and everyone echoes. Undulating physical power, and a sea of voices and thoughts, colliding and bouncing off everything and everyone. Looks were still judged here, but it was less about appearance and more about strength. The weak would not survive.

XXX

After the quick tour from Four and Tris, they leave us in what would be our home for the next ten weeks. A dormitory style hall with no privacy. Dauntless saw no need for privacy. Like the ancient Spartans, they wanted us to be comfortable in our skin, and they wanted to encourage a brother and sisterhood among its warriors.

Everyone moves to claim a bed; stake their territory. I take one of the lower bunks on the side of the room, where I can see every point of egress.

As my back is turned, and I examine the training clothes left for us, I feel them; feel hands of blue approach and try to come at my sideways.

"Well, if it isn't the biggest nose of the bunch." My skin prickles at the sound of his voice. Chad Volger had been a constant source of annoyance in my life since we could walk. He thought he was meant for great things, planned to become very important. When he tried to become my friend to get into Jeanine's good graces, he was abruptly shot down. And when I continued to best him and remain at the top of our class, it wounded his ego even more.

He then made it his mission to try and torment me any chance he could. But he never got the validation or satisfaction from me he so desperately craved.

I don't bother to turn around, or to stop what I am doing. My thought bounces inside my head. _"They think of me as nothing but a nose."_

"What, being head bitch of Erudite wasn't enough?" He says as he tries to incite a reaction. His idiot friends laugh at his remark. I only roll my eyes and continue arranging my things on my bed.

My silence infuriates him and I hear his intention before his hand coils around my arm. His fingers don't even touch my skin as I sidestep and whirl to face him. His surprise registers as his pupils dilate slightly. He recovers quickly, in front of his friends.

"Face it Matthews, you're not cut out for life in Dauntless. But I'm sure if you ask mommy nice enough she'll let you go home."

_"__Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance." _I think to myself. The first stage of imitation would be physical assessment. The best thing for me to do is to not give them anything to make them think I will succeed. Better they find out too late.

"It's Tam." I say somewhat quietly.

He steps closer to me and sneers. "You can pick any name you want, you'll never be anything but Jeanine Matthews' little nose."

I can tell he wants me to say something. He wants me to lash out, to give him that validation. But I've endured much worse than Volger's taunts.

He doesn't get the chance to say anything else as Four and Tris announce it's time for lunch. Volger stands there for another minute, looking me up and down before turning and telling his friends to go. I watch as he walks towards the door everyone is leaving from, and although he doesn't see it, my eyes narrow at the back of his head.

It's the closest he's ever gotten to eliciting a reaction from me.

XXX

The lunch hall is crowded, almost too crowded. It's clanging plates and cutlery, it's talking, laughing, and it's a mental barrage of thoughts from all directions.

I'm not entirely hungry, but follow the flow of people and grab an apple, a few pieces of chicken, and something to drink before finding a table off to the side to sit by myself. I already know I won't be welcome at any of the tables with the other initiates. That's fine, I am used to being alone.

But to my small surprise, I don't stay alone for long. Tris sits down opposite me as I nibble on my food.

"Didn't see anything you like?" She asks cheerfully.

I can tell she saw what happened earlier with Volger. Her time in Dauntless has made her observant. But coming to see how I was doing showed her Abnegation roots.

"I'm not that hungry." I say quietly.

"Nervous?" She asks.

I shake my head in the negative.

"You should try and eat. You're going to need everything you can during training. And besides, Dauntless has cake." She says as she slides her piece of chocolate cake towards me.

It's a small gesture, but it's genuine and kind. "Thank you." I say as I take slide the cake closer to my plate. She smiles at my action, but it quickly falls from her face and her eyes darken at the person I can feel standing behind me.

"I know Four didn't exactly follow the rules when he trained you Tris, but you can't play favorites on day one." Eric's voice grumbles.

Tris wants to roll her eyes, but she also knows better. She rises from her seat with a curt nod towards Eric, before giving me another small smile. "We'll meet in the Pit in about twenty minutes River." She says before throwing another glare at Eric and then turning to leave.

Eric sits down beside me and inspects the plate in front of me. "Is that really all you're eating?"

While Tris refrained from rolling her eyes, I do not.

He notices. "Careful. I am still a Leader here." He says low and menacing. I want to laugh.

I turn my body to face him. "You are, but you'll always be Eric to me."

I can tell that people put him on a pedestal here. It had been the same in Erudite. Both Simon and Eric were top of their class, smart, tactful, ambitious. But Simon was kind, where Eric was threatening. He had carried that with him to Dauntless.

He leans in close to me now. His body language screams superiority to anyone who would be watching, which they were. Eric was a force to be feared in Dauntless, and where he went, people took note.

"Find me later. Before dinner." He says quietly as he gets up from the table.

I quirk an eyebrow at him, and I see the corner of his lip threaten to pull into a half smile. It's a challenge. He also knows I won't back down from a challenge from him. I hadn't when we were children and I wouldn't now.

He doesn't say anything else as he leaves, and neither do I.

XXX

"There are two stages of training." Four says to the group of us in the Pit later. "The first is physical. Push your bodies to the breaking point and you'll master the methods of combat. The second is mental. Again, breaking point. You'll face your worst fears and conquer them unless they get you first."

Four is trying to come off as menacing, but the best he gets comes off as indifference. He's clearly done this before, and it feels a bit practiced; like it's an act and the opposite of who he is as a person.

Tris continues where Four had left off. "You'll be trained separately from the Dauntless-born, but you'll be ranked together. After initiations, rankings will determine what jobs you move into. Leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the Factionless from killing each other."

Four chimes in again here. "The rankings will also determine who gets cut."

"Cut?" One of the Candor transfers asks.

Tris grimaces as she explains. "At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking Initiates will be leaving us." You can tell she is uncomfortable with it.

"To do what?" Another Candor asks.

"There's no going home to your families, so you'd live factionless." Four replies quickly. He also seems very uncomfortable.

"Why didn't we know that?" One of the Erudite asks.

"It's a new rule." Four glares as the crowd. It's very apparent he wants this line of questioning to be over.

_"__So it begins." _I think to myself. I am sure there would be other 'new rules' springing up over the next ten weeks. One's she wants Dauntless to enforce. One's meant to try and get me back to Erudite. Being factionless, there are no rules. No one checking on you, no guard rails. The factionless were Jeanine Matthews favorite play thing.

"We'll start with something fun for the rest of today. This will be the only time you get to practice throwing knives, so make it count." Tris says as she motions to the tables behind her and the the targets a good 10 meters in front of them.

XXX

I take my time listening to what Four and Tris explain in their demonstration. Cataloguing ever aspect on proper form, on breath control, when to release to get the right amount of spin on the blade. It wasn't practical, throwing knives. Gun would always be better. But they are using it as a test to see how well we listen. My first attempt isn't perfect… but it wasn't meant to be. It would have been suspicious if it was.

I take my time throwing, hoping my speed comes off as nerves rather than procrastination. While everyone else has thrown about ten blades, I have thrown about five. But they are all in the target. Tris comes by about twenty minutes into throwing to see how I am doing.

I release the blade and it hits the ring just outside the bullseye.

"You're a natural." She says.

I shrug. "You explained it well."

I pick up another blade and ready my stance to throw. I feel her critiquing me, and feel her about to reach out to move my elbow slightly. I let her, and when I release the blade it hits the bullseye.

She nods in approval, mentally cataloging it to score me later. "You'll do well if you keep up like this."

"Thanks." I say quietly.

She frowns slightly. "They giving you trouble already?" She asks quietly.

I shrug again and I pick up a blade and play with it in my hand, projecting nervous energy, which is what she would expect.

"I saw some of the guys cornering you in the dorm. You can talk to me about it if you want." She says casually.

I throw her a small smile, but still shrug. "It's fine."

She doesn't look so sure, but she doesn't say anything. Tris gives me one last small nod before she moves on to the next group of transfers to watch them.

XXX

We practice with knives for the rest of the day. A few of the other transfers had done well; two of the Amity transfers and one of the Erudite.

Four and Tris dismiss us for dinner and let us know that training will start at 9am sharp tomorrow. Everyone makes a mad dash back towards the cafeteria, but I linger to the end and start gathering up the throwing knives. I also pocket one of them for later, just in case. There are at least 200 knives scattered about, so there is no way Four to Tris will notice.

"You don't have to do that River." Four says with a small smile as I bring them over to where they are storing them.

"I don't mind." I say with a shrug. "See you tomorrow," I say as I turn and leave.

I catch a few thoughts and words spoken between them as I leave the Pit. Concern, Tris telling Four what she saw in the dorm, but also satisfactory remarks on my natural skill.

It puts me at ease slightly, knowing I hadn't given anything away. It would be harder the further we got into training, especially when we got to the fights.

I keep walking like I am going back to the cafeteria, but I allow my mind to start exploring… reaching out, listening to the whispers that flow around me.

I catch a few thoughts that give me a general idea of where to go as I walk by a cluster of Dauntless members. It gives me enough of an idea of where to head next.

I detour just before the doors of the cafeteria and duck around a corner before moving to a stairwell. I go up three flights of stairs before exiting and going down a corridor.

I walk past another group who are so wrapped up in their own conversations they don't notice the initiate right behind them. That's when I find the trail of thoughts I am looking for, and I peel off from the group in front of me and take another turn. I get to the end of the corridor and enter another stairwell.

Two more flights of stairs and I exit onto the residence floor. Five doors down on the left I am at the door I want.

I take a breath before I knock softly on the door. I feel him striding to the door from the other side and Eric opens it a few seconds later.

He doesn't say anything, but motions for me to come inside. I do so and quietly close the door behind me.

XXX

AN: Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing so far. I am really liking where we are headed with this Divergent/Firefly crossover, and I can't wait to see what you all think of the later chapters when we start to see some familiar faces. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 3

XXX

Eric's apartment isn't exactly what I would expect from a Dauntless leader. The walls are painted a soft white, which makes everything feel light and airy. It's open plan, but with clear zones around the room. There is a hallway to the left of the kitchen area that I suspect heads to the bedroom and bathroom. The furniture is all natural wood tones, and natural leathers, and he's clearly taken the less is more approach to heart. Everything is clean lines, and looks like it was carefully selected for form and function. But the thing that stands out the most and is a clear giveaway of his Erudite upbringing… is the piano in the corner of the room near the window that overlooks the city skyline.

I catch myself staring too long at the piano when he notices what I am looking at.

"Do you still play?" I ask as I walk towards where he is pouring a drink for himself in the kitchen.

He doesn't answer, but asks a question in return. "Do you still dance?"

An icy chill runs down my spine. I shake my head no. "Not since you and Simon left."

I feel a pinprick of sadness from him before it's quickly pushed out of his mind. "So you didn't have any trouble finding me I take it."

I can tell he was testing me. I had followed him and Simon wherever they had wandered, never missing a beat or falling behind. He wanted to see how much six years had truly changed me.

"No, I didn't." I say as I glance around the room again.

"Good." He says. "Drink?"

"Water?"

He chuckles. "Really, that's all you want?"

I glance back over to him and catch that faint smile tugging at his lips again. I can't stop one from pulling on my own. "Fine, tea if it's not too much trouble."

"Kettle was already on." He says as he moves to the electric kettle sitting on the counter and pours the hot water into a mug. He quickly adds a tea bag from a tin and slice of lemon.

He remembered how I take my tea, and I'm surprised.

This must register on my face, because he quickly responds. "It's not like I didn't have years of practice making it for you little mouse."

I roll my eyes, but he's not wrong.

"And if you keep that up I'll show you what else I remember."

Thoughts of him and my brother tormenting me by tickling me flood his thoughts and send shivers up my arms. They had been merciless when I was little and they wanted to take revenge for something I had done.

It's a warm memory, but thinking about Simon stings none the less. I hadn't seen him in six years. I want to ask about Simon… if Eric has seen him, if he knows how he is doing. But I stop myself before I do.

He hands me the mug and motions for me to sit. I do so without rolling my eyes.

He follows me and takes a seat at the other end of the sofa. I take a sip of my tea and feel him looking at me as he takes a sip of his own drink, which I presume is whiskey based on the color and the flavors he thinks about as it hits his tongue.

He's still searching for something that gives away why I am here. Me being here was a challenge, and he's trying to figure it out on his own before he has to ask. He'll eventually ask, I'm just not sure I am prepared to answer.

"Why?"

I sigh. I look down at the mug in my hands.

His voice changes when he repeats the question. "River… why?" It's more commanding than his first attempt. This one conveys he expects an answer.

"It wasn't the same… after you both left." It's a half truth. Jeanine saw Simon's defection as the ultimate insult, and she had worked hard to try an ensure that it wouldn't happen again. So her indifference turned into… something else.

"So why not Amity?" He asks critically.

I shake my head in the negative. As much as I would have loved to run to Simon, Amity would not have afforded me the skills or protection I would need against Jeanine. There was only one faction that would.

"It's… complicated."

I look up at his face and feel his frustration growing. He was never the patient one, and my evasion of his questions is trying what little he has. His eyes flash like cold steel, and I shiver involuntarily.

"If you're going to survive here, you are going to have to learn who is in command." He sets his drink down on the table before he continues. "Now I asked you a question, do you want to try again?"

My eyes narrow at him and I set down my cup before matching is body language. "Quid pro quo."

His jaw tightens slightly. "Fine."

I take a breath. "I wouldn't have fit in with Amity."

"Why do you think that?"

I shake my head. "My turn." He rolls his eyes. "What did you want to say on the roof?"

I catch the momentary surprise on his face.

"I know you well enough to know you wanted to say something." I quickly add to cover my tracks.

He smiles. "I was going to tell you to hurry up little mouse."

Truth. He wanted me to jump. He had been happy to see me as the first jumper. He thought him goading me would get me to hurry up.

He picks up his drink and takes another sip. "So why do you think you wouldn't have fit in Amity?"

I scrunch my nose. "Too much peace serum." Half-truth. I didn't need to dull my senses, I needed to hone them, to be ready for Jeanine.

He grimaces himself. "I never understood your brother's choice to go there. Candor maybe, but Amity?"

I chuckle. "Kaylee." I say simply.

This gets Eric to give a half smile. He remembered Kaylee from school, and even then he knew Simon would have followed her anywhere. When she chose to stay in Amity, Simon went with her.

He shrugs and takes a sip. He's waiting for me.

"Do you miss him?"

His eyes soften slightly as he thinks about it. "I see him from time to time, now that I'm a leader."

I can't help but feel my heart jump up in my rib cage. "How is he?"

He quirks his head. His turn first. I roll my eyes. "Fine, hurry up." I say. He lets the eye roll slide.

"Why did you stop dancing?"

He knows how much I loved to dance. Simon and he used to joke I didn't walk, but I would glide.

"Jeanine." Again, half-truth. Jeanine had put a stop to my dancing and had me in other… extra-curricular activities.

His anger flames quickly. He had never liked Jeanine. While his own parents were always busy, they weren't cruel like he had seen Jeanine be towards Simon and I. Hearing she had stopped my dancing didn't dissuade his opinion. He knew how much I loved it.

"How is Simon?" I ask wistfully.

"He's well. He became the vet for Amity. He pitches in as doctor if an Erudite one can't get to Amity fast enough. Kaylee mainly works on the farming machines doing repairs and keeping them in working order. But you would know that… if you bothered to try and keep in touch."

A flash of anger. Understandable. I hadn't tried to contact Simon or Eric in the last six years. They had been my closest companions and the minute they left… they heard nothing. You were allowed to visit without your guardian starting at sixteen on visiting days. I hadn't shown up once over the past two years.

I feel defensive, and I want him to know it wasn't me. That I was barely able to survive the past six years. "It would have been worse if I had tried." I say before I take a gulp of my tea.

He catches my meaning quickly. "What did she do to you?"

Tiny pin pricks begin dancing on my skull. It's a familiar itch, and one that makes me feel the need to move. I get up from the sofa and move to look out the window. I can feel him follow me, standing close enough to make me feel slightly caged, but far enough away to still give me room to breath. He doesn't know which one is better to try and get me to answer.

_"__A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life."_ I had become something else to survive.

"She did what she does best." I respond quietly. It's vague, but it's also enough for Eric to understand. Jeanine sought perfection in everything she did. It didn't matter what she had done to me, she had likely put her full attention into it. I likely became her biggest obsession, one that wasn't likely to stop by leaving Erudite.

"What can I do?"

It's not what I expected to hear, and I turn to judge whether he is being sincere. His mind doesn't feel like deception, and I remember the amusement he had when I selected Dauntless and sent Jeanine's world into disarray.

I shake my head. I would eventually have to do this on my own, and arguing about it would not get us anywhere right now. I pivot from this topic slightly with another question.

"Why do we have new rules for initiation?"

"Jeanine." He sneers her name. It was making more sense to him now. He was piecing together what she was going to try and do. "I have a feeling she wants you to fail."

"I'm sure she does."

"So what are you going to do about it?" He ask nonchalantly.

I smirk. "Disappoint her. Again."

His approval of my intention pulls his mouth into a wicked grin. Like a lion ready to bite into its prey. "Good." He drains the drink in his hand and looks at his watch, mulling over how long I have been here and how I was likely to miss any food in the cafeteria.

"Dinner?" He says as he moves back towards the kitchen.

It catches me off guard. "Sure."

XXX

Dinner had been a mostly quiet affair. Eric had moved around the kitchen easily, pulling what he needed from the shelves and cabinets. He had whipped up pasta fairly quickly, and we had eaten mostly in silence. When we were done, I had moved to clear the plates from the table. As I reached for Eric's his hand delicately grabbed my wrist, causing me to pause.

"If I play, would you dance?"

Honest. He's genuinely curious to what I might say. "Not tonight." I respond truthfully.

"When?"

I think it over. The thought of dancing makes my toes and legs itch in longing. It would be good to move that way again. But I don't need it distracting me right now.

"After I rank first." I say with practiced confidence.

He releases my wrist and throws me a soft smile. Not a grin, or a smirk, but something that says he knows I will rank first. If only to make Jeanine even more mad.

"Good."

XXX

I leave Eric's apartment well before curfew, but noticeably on the late side. I return the way I came, and by the time I hit the first stairwell I feel the nerves on my back prickle, like I am being watched. There is no one in the corridor with me, but the small blinking red lights seem more noticeable now. Like someone is tracking me.

I'm almost back to the Pit when I feel who is watching. He slides up behind me, carefully grabbing my arm and steering me down a different corridor, towards the training rooms.

"We missed you at dinner." Four says as we enter one of the training rooms and lets go of my arm. "Tris was worried."

I shrug. "I had dinner with an old friend."

"Eric is not your friend River."

This frustrates me. I can feel Four thinks he is doing the right thing. He was planning to try and warn me about what an evil, sadistic, and ruthless person Eric has become. How he isn't who I remember from Erudite. He wasn't wrong, I knew Eric had become those things from what I heard in the whispers… but that doesn't mean he isn't who I remember.

Or maybe I just knew someone everyone else didn't.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

My response frustrates Four, but I don't care. I am not being scored on my interpersonal relationships with anyone here, so let him be frustrated.

He can tell I don't want to listen. And he scratches the back of his head in frustration and some defeat. "Just… be careful. You don't know what he's capable of."

I don't respond to Four as I walk past him and back towards the dorm.

_"__And you don't know what I'm capable of."_

XXX

AN: I hope you enjoyed this update. I wanted to show a slightly different side to Eric and I had a vision of a kind of monk like living space minimalistic, zen, and quiet. Something that would fit the two worlds of his past and present, and somewhere River would find some momentary peace. Also, anyone want to take any guesses as to who else from Firefly may show up soon? ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 4

XXX

"They're trying to kill us." One of the transfers says behind me as I run. I roll my eyes.

We started training that day with the announcement we were going on a five mile run as a warmup. While the Amity transfers were doing well, the Candor and Erudite were having some difficulty. Even Volger and his minions weren't quite up to scratch on their endurance.

For the first four miles I stay in the middle of the pack, but towards the front. The countless hours I had spent dancing as a child had increased my stamina. While this had been the first time in years I had this long of a stretch to feel the muscles in my legs burn and push, the muscle memory remains.

In the last mile, I move to the front of the group; pacing myself to be in time with Tris and Four. They take note, and catalogue it away for scoring later.

We arrive back at the training room a sweaty mess. Everyone quickly grabs a water bottle and downs as much as they can.

"Now, we're going to show you the basics of hand to hand. We'll spend the next few days doing this, before we move on to real fights." Four announces. "Fights will last for 2 weeks, before we move onto two weeks of weapons training. Then we enter round 2."

There are enough punching bags around the training space that we each have one. And once we are all at our own bag, Four and Tris begin their demonstrations.

XXX

We broke for lunch after a few hours of working on stance and basic attacks. Four and Tris had both moved around the room, correcting form and offering helpful critiques. Again, I gave nothing away that this was easy for me, that the moves they showed were already embedded into my memory, but enough to know they would score me well.

I quickly grab some food from the cafeteria line and make my way to the empty table I sat at yesterday.

Again, to my surprise, I am not sitting alone for long.

This time, Tris and another woman sit down opposite me.

"River, I am not going to stay long so Eric doesn't come over and accuse me of playing favorites again, but I wanted to introduce you to Christina."

"Tris mentioned you didn't seem to connect with anyone in your training class. Thought you could use a friend."

I don't say anything before Tris jumps up to leave. "See you back at training River."

I avoid laughing. From what I could quickly gather, I have apparently become Tris's secret project. She had taken a liking to me. I reminded her of herself when she went through training. She wanted to make sure I had someone to talk to that Eric couldn't accuse of playing favorites. Christina was her best friend in Dauntless, a Candor transfer, so that would hopefully make it easier for me.

"Hi." I say.

Christina looks me over. "You're pretty." She finally decides.

"Uh, thanks?"

"But you could use a haircut. Add a little spice to your look." She adds. Definitely Candor.

I chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, how's training going? Tris mentioned you seem to be a natural."

I pause and play it off. "She's a good instructor."

"Oh, for sure, she and Four both are. They actually care and want people to do well. Unlike other people." Christina says as she throws a glance at the direction of the table the Leaders are sitting. Sure enough, Eric is glaring in our direction.

"I don't get what his problem is." Christina says as she turns her attention back to me.

I pick up on a memory or two from Christina's training. Eric had held her over the chasm and had thrown knives at a target he made Tris stand in front of as punishment for failing to listen or act Dauntless enough for his liking.

I can't blame either of them for not thinking kindly about Eric. But while I may disagree with his tactics, the results weren't unfavorable. Both women had risen to the challenge and had become members of Dauntless.

Sometimes, someone has to push you for you to achieve what you are capable of.

I also feel slightly defensive of my old friend. "He isn't so bad."

This earns a mildly shocked and disgusted look from Christina. "You do know he's the biggest psychopath in Dauntless, right?"

I shrug, "I grew up with him in Erudite. He was friends with my brother."

And this piques Christina's interest. "Ohh, you have to dish on what he was like as a kid. Was he just as serious and mean then?"

I look back over to Eric. His eyes are still trained on us, and I can tell he isn't happy I am sitting with Christina. I shrug without breaking eye contact with him.

"He was fine."

"Just fine? No juicy secrets, nothing?"

It's a half-truth. But enough that Christian's Candor roots won't sniff it out as a lie. Eric had been fine towards me and Simon. It was everyone else he had issues with. His parents had pushed him towards great things, and that was what he worked for. He didn't have time for things that would distract him from his goals. The only time I ever saw him relax and just be… at ease… was with me and Simon.

"I was six years younger than Eric and my brother. I wouldn't be the best one to tell you."

Again, half-truth. They had let me tag along with them all the time. But I was still the 'little mouse,' and they wouldn't confide everything with me. Simon a little more than Eric, but even that was limited. I could always tell though. What they weren't telling me. Even before Jeanine did what she did.

I push that thought out of my head quickly before Christina picks up on my discomfort.

"So what do you do in Dauntless Christina?"

She happily starts chatting away when I ask her this. She may be Dauntless now, but she's gregarious as any Candor would be.

XXX

I'm heading back to training after chatting with Christina when I feel his eyes moving towards me. His purposeful strides are not hard to miss. I roll my eyes before he catches up to me.

"Interesting choice of company." He says quietly as he walks next to me.

"She seems nice. Said some wonderful things about you." I reply sarcastically.

He tenses. "I'm sure she did."

I steal a glance over at him. He's nervous, which is unusual, but I understand why. He had changed in Dauntless, and he didn't know what I would think of him as a result. "While I don't agree with your methods, it got the result you wanted."

I train my eyes ahead of me, but I _feel_ him judging my response. Eric was brutal, and he lead by force… but also by example. He was clearly tough on himself, and held himself to a high standard. He expected no less.

"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." I say quietly before I walk into the training room. He doesn't follow me inside, but I feel the wheels turning in his mind and some level of satisfaction to my response before he turns and leaves.

_"__Very interesting, little mouse."_

XXX

The next few days are uneventful on the surface. More training, more meals with Christina. Sometimes Tris would stop by and say hi, offer a few words of praise for what I had done that day in training. Four accompanied her once or twice.

Despite the pleasantness of it, I do feel their eyes on me. All of them. Eric, the Dauntless born initiates, and the transfers. Hands of blue. Particularly Volger. His mind was a whirlwind of anger and resentment. They hadn't posted any rankings yet, they wouldn't until after the first real fight tomorrow. But he doesn't need to see the rankings to know I am doing well… and he doesn't like it.

It's the night before the fight that he makes a more blatant move.

It starts as a whisper… a voice in the back of my mind that creeps inside like a fog. Plotting, scheming, full of ill intent. Slowly I feel it, two by two, hands of blue.

Volger and two of his friends think I am asleep. They approach quietly, ready to grab me, gag me, and take me to the chasm to throw me in. Think the three of them can overpower me, that no one would know it was them, and that it could be seen as a suicide. _"The quiet ones are always unstable." _Volger reasons.

But I am not the sum of their expectations…"_The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."_

I keep my breathing steady as they approach, I'm lying on my side with my back to them, my hand slowly creeping under my pillow to where I left the throwing knife. My fingers lace around the cool steel.

As Volger goes to gag me, I lash out and slice into his forearm. Not enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to need stitches and cause pain.

"You BITCH!" He says as he reels back in pain. "GRAB HER." He hisses with menace to his two friends.

But before they have the chance to grab me, I have rolled off the bed and put it between myself and them. As they come around the side, I am in striking position. Neither one can get close to me, and I lash out in a series of flourishes that leaves their exposed arms covered in cuts; a few deep enough to need stitches. As both of them draw back in pain, I make a run for the door.

They're chasing me, but I am quick to lose them. I keep running until I get to the one place I know I will be safe… at least for tonight.

XXX

I can feel Eric's annoyance at being woken up in the middle of the night. He'd been asleep, and I needed to pound on the door to wake him. I can feel his half awake mind as he trudges to the door. He's already preparing to curse out whoever is standing on the other side.

I'm not who he expects to see there, standing in pajamas, barefoot, and holding a knife. I look down to confirm I'm still holding it, as I had been singularly focused on running. Eric doesn't say anything, he merely opens the door and allows me inside. He closes the door behind me.

"Are we going to find a body somewhere?" He asks with mild amusement as he walks over to the couch.

I can tell he expects me to follow suit, and I do. He hold his hand out for the knife and I give it to him. He turns it over in his hand looking at it, studying the feel of it.

"One of the training knives."

It's a statement, not a question, but he expects me to tell him know how I got it.

"I nicked it after training. I didn't want to be caught off guard."

"So what happened?" He asks as he tosses it on the coffee table.

"Some of the other initiates felt… threatened. They already had some ill will towards me before I transferred." Half-truth, Eric didn't need to know I knew what they were planning to do, just that they had ill will.

"And I take it you left a nice reminder of why this was a bad idea on who tried to attack you?"

I chuckle and nod. Each of them should have at least one very nice gash on their arm that would require stitches. That wouldn't be something they could hide easily.

"I'll have to report this. New rules require us to report any incident during training."

I groan. Of course there was a new rule.

"Video footage of the dorm will corroborate your story. Three on one is hardly a fair fight, and the other initiates will be given warnings."

I nod in understanding. No one knew what they planned to do, so a warning was more than what I could expect to be handed out as punishment. If they tried something again, they would not get off as easy.

"You handled yourself well. Showed an aptitude for planning and situational awareness. That's what we want in Dauntless." Eric says as he get up from the couch. He goes over to where his phone is laying on the counter and starts typing what I assume is an email to Four, Tris, Max, and the other trainers to report the incident. He types it in quickly and then calls someone.

As the phone is ringing he turns back to me. "You can sleep in the spare room tonight." He says as he motions down the hall. The adrenaline of the would be attack is wearing off, and I feel my eyes growing heavy. I don't have to be told twice, and quietly make my way to the spare room. I don't even have time to catalogue anything I see, because the minute I lay down on the bed, I pass out.

XXX

_I'm sitting outside…in an outdoor classroom. I couldn't be more than twelve years old. I look around and see the rest of the class. Everyone is wearing their faction colors. _

_A little girl from Candor holds up her hand. "Why did the founders create five factions?" She asks inquisitively._

_"__The founders built the wall to keep us safe and they divided us into five groups, factions, to keep the peace."_

_A boy from Erudite speaks up. "I don't understand. Why was there even a war? Wouldn't people look to be more civilized?"_

_The teacher considers his question and opens it up to the class. "That's a good question. Does anybody want to open on that?"_

_"__My mother said they were degenerate. Not concerned with anything but themselves." A Candor girl offers._

_"__I heard they were savages."_

_"__That's not true." Someone else offers._

_"__Full well it is. People used to attack each other, kill them and wear their skins and…"_

_"__Quiet!" The teacher commands from the front. Everyone around me falls silent before she continues on. _

_"__It's true that there were...dangers. So let's follow up on Borodin's question. With all the social and medical advancements we achieved in the 21st century, what would start a war?"_

_"__We meddle." I feel my lips moving on their own and all eyes snap to me._

_"__River?" The teacher questions._

_I look down and toy with the stylus I hold in my hand; toy with it as a nervous tick while I answer. "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk…we're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome."_

_The teacher approaches me and gently stops me playing with my stylus._

_"__River, we're not telling people what to think. We're just trying to show them how." That's all she says before she plunges the stylus into my head._

_My eyes jolt open, and I am back in the lab… back looking at Jeanine in front of me. The lab is cold… blue… steel. Insidiously clean. I can feel everything all around me, the needle that was just inserted into my cerebral cortex. Feel the others they inserted along my scalp._

XXX

I jolt awake after the nightmare… no, memory. My hands come up and touch the dozens of little circular scars hidden in my hair along my scalp. I still remember what she did… how it felt.

"You aren't there anymore." I remind myself as I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and work to steady my breathing.

XXX

AN: Sorry for the lag in updating. I am still looking for a beta reader familiar with Divergent series, so I am trying to go over things more so than I normally would. Hope this update brightens your day and you are all staying safe during this time.


	5. Chapter 5

Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 5

XXX

It's still early. The dawn sun filters in around the curtains in the room I am in. I didn't have a chance to look around last night, but I do now. It's similar to what I saw in the living area, clean lines, minimal furniture, but everything multi-purpose. It's calm, almost serene, as if Eric had crafted his space to be the anti-thesis of Dauntless on purpose. A place to escape to when he needed it. I wonder how many people had been in his apartment and figured that out.

I listen to see if Eric is awake, and feel his mind in the kitchen. The smell that wafts through the room tells me he's cooking.

I exit the spare room and walk towards where he is making what appears to be eggs at the stove.

"Morning." He says in his usual slightly gruff manner. "Tea?"

"Yes, please." I say as I take a seat at the table.

He brings me a mug and a plate of eggs a minute later. It tastes good, and I savor the quietness around me. It wasn't crowded in here like the rest of Dauntless was.

"I issued the report last night. Max, Tris, and Four have all read it." He says as he grabs his own plate and mug of coffee and sits at the other end of the table.

"And?" I ask.

"Four confirms your account based on the security footage. The three were seen in the infirmary for stitches and will be reprimanded."

I smile and start eating my eggs. Again, it's all I could have hoped for at this stage.

"Max was quite impressed, commented on your awareness."

I shrug and try and play it off by continuing to eat my eggs.

"Are you nervous for your fight today?"

I shrug. "Should I be?"

He shakes his head. "I've read the reports. You seem to have 'natural ability' according to Four, if his opinion counts for anything." He says with a sneer when he says Four's name.

It piques my interest, as there seems to be so much tension between Eric and everyone I meet. "I take it he's not your best friend?" I ask to see what he says.

Eric snorts. "Hardly."

I want to pry a little more. It almost feels like he is purposefully not thinking about why he dislikes the other Dauntless member. I can't help the urge to dig into this a little more. "What'd he do. Steal a girl from you? Or something else?"

"My rank." Eric deadpans.

I stop chewing when he says this. Now it makes sense. Eric always was a bit of a sore loser. Even when I was a child, he never intentionally let me beat him in games. He always wanted to be first at everything he did.

I smile at the memory of him throwing a temper tantrum when I beat him at chess. I was six, and he refused to play with me for a month.

"He tried to warn me to stay away from you." I say before taking another bite.

Eric rolls his eyes. He would expect nothing less from who he considered his biggest enemy. "I'm sure he did."

"I blew off his concern."

And this gets Eric attention. "Oh really?" He asks before taking a sip of his coffee.

I shrug. "Like I said, you'll always be Eric to me."

He smirks, his mind is mulling over what I said. Thinking about the little mouse he knew. He isn't sure what to make of what I've become, but doesn't say anything else.

XXX

I show up in the dorm while everyone else is at breakfast. Tris and Four are waiting for me when I do.

"River, I am so sorry." Tris says as she runs up and gives me a hug. She feels guilty that I was attacked.

"You didn't do anything wrong, just so you know." Four says as he gives me a once over. Eric had let them know I would be staying in his apartment last night, and Four is making sure Eric didn't do anything 'untoward.' I want to roll my eyes, men are such boobs.

"It's fine." I say when Tris finally lets me go.

"Your fight is scheduled for after breakfast. You will have the rest of the day off after that." Four says as he turns to leave.

Tris lingers a little longer. "You'll do great River." And gives me another hug.

The leave shortly after and I quickly grab my training clothes to get changed.

XXX

A ring has been erected in one of the bigger training rooms, well if you could call it a ring. It's a raised platform with no ropes on the edges. The mat is also barely padded, meaning that any landing was bound to hurt. Dauntless were meant to be tough, no use sugar-coating what a real fight would feel like.

We are all milling around as Four and Tris go over the schedule. Everyone keeps their distance from me, no doubt having heard what happened to Volger and his friends last night. The three in question glare daggers at me from across the room.

We're about to get started, when Max and Eric enter the training room. This gets everyone's attention, none more so than Four and Tris. Max and Eric quickly move to talk with Four and Tris. I feel fleeting thoughts from all of them, and I can't help but groan.

_"__Another fucking new rule."_

"The fights today will be scored. You will each fight once today. After that we will have a few days of more advanced training before the next fight. You will have a total of five fights to be scored on." Four says in his indifferent tone.

"How long do we fight for?" A Candor named Warren asks.

"Till one of you can't continue. Or one of you concedes. According to the old rules." Tris says, clearly uneasy at what is going to come next.

"New rules, no one concedes." Eric chimes in.

This sets off the murmurs and whispers. It's the first fight, and more than a few people were nervous about what would happen if they weren't allowed to concede.

"First fighters will be Tam and Volger." Max bellows out.

And this sets off a whole other set of murmurs and whispers. Eric looks moderately shocked and turns to question Max. I'm far enough away I shouldn't be able to hear them, but I know what they are saying none the less, and I feel her cold manipulative hands all around me.

_"__Two by two, hands of blue."_

I inwardly groan again. Of course this was _her _doing, one I am sure Jeanine was very specific about after the incident report likely hit her desk this morning. All leaders, regardless of faction, received reports so that they knew what was going on during training. It kept everyone 'accountable.' More like it made it easier for Jeanine to spy on everyone.

I grit my teeth and approach the ring. Volger looks like he is practically salivating at the chance to rip my head off. I don't say anything as I hoist myself up onto the platform and ready myself for the fight.

_"__Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing." _I remind myself to be water, to be a River… to flow with the fight.

"You'll be scored on this, so fight hard." Four says with a small amount of concern in his voice. I know it's directed at me.

I countdown silently, as the music only I can hear gets louder in my head. Three, two, one…

"Go!" Four yells, and Volger launches himself at me.

His form is sloppy, he's letting his hatred of me cloud his judgement. I easily sidestep his first attack. This angers him and makes him pause to re-evaluate his next attack.

It's then that I fully feel and hear it… feel the adrenaline flood my limbs, feel the nerve endings inside me begin to spring to life, the hidden melody of this 'dance' rise up and hit full volume. It's not my memory, but theirs. Every tactic they used in a fight, every strategy. I am a conduit for all of their collective memories. My arms and legs become fluid, and I fall into step as if it is a dance I'd memorized the choreography for and danced a hundred times.

On Volger's next attack, I sidestep and counter with a punch to his throat. He stumbles back, choking for air. I don't give him time to recover.

My strikes are hard and fast. Each one hitting another point on his body that inflicts the most amount of pain with the least amount of force. Groin, throat, liver… and at one point when he tries to grab me I chop down as hard as I can onto the plaster covering the stitches of his arm.

He howls, clearly seeing red. Good, he looks better in red than blue. He makes another attempt to rush me, to overcome me with brute force. I use this against him and flip him over my body. He lands with the wind knocked out of him. It's then that I rain down an onslaught of strikes directly onto his face.

I don't hear them call to me to stop. I don't hear both Four and Eric climbing up on the platform with the intent of separating us. I don't even feel Eric when he physically hoists me off the limp form of Volger. The music is too loud to hear anything but what it tells me to do, and all I want to do is beat every last speck of blue out of Volger.

When the music does subside, all I feel is the wetness of Volger's blood on my knuckles, and the satisfaction that I beat his face to a bloody pulp.

XXX

Eric doesn't let me down when we get off the platform. He doesn't even let me down when we make it outside the training room. He just continues to carry me through Dauntless over his shoulder, like I'm a lifeless sack.

"I can walk." I say after we make it past the Pit and towards one of the exterior stairwells.

This seems to break Eric out of whatever trance he had been in, and he sets me down. He quickly grabs on to my upper arm and continues to drag me along.

I roll my eyes at the back of his head as he drags me up several flights of stairs. We finally make it to the roof and he slams the door behind us.

I look out over the city for a minute, letting the slight breeze in the air play on my skin. I hold my hand out like it is a leaf on the wind.

"Where did you learn to fight like that." Eric asks after a minute.

I don't answer.

"There is no way that you would learn how to fight like that from Four or Tris." He voices the thoughts in his head. "So who taught you to fight."

Again, I don't answer. It's still so complicated… and I shouldn't have beaten Volger as well as I had if I intended to stay under the radar. But the music had called to me, had carried me away on its melody. And all I saw was her hands of blue trying to reach out, trying to snatch me back to my own personal hell.

Eric's patience has grown thin. "Your _Leader_ asked you a question… Don't make me ask it again."

I drop my hand and let out a sigh. I turn and regard Eric. His stance screams of tightly wound tension, ready to lash out.

For a second I wonder if he is in fact still the Eric I knew. Could I trust him?

My face must give away what I am thinking. He's taken aback momentarily. He realizes he's falling into his routine, the one that keeps others away. He doesn't want to do that with me. His mind softens along with his stance. "You can trust me little mouse."

"You and Simon, were always very smart. Top of your class, each with a brilliant mind. Gifted." I say as I move to one of the edges of the building and sit down, my feet dangling over the edge.

"When you both left, everything changed. There was no more hiding, no more being left to my own devices."

Eric moves to sit next to me silently, paying close attention to what I am saying.

"She took everything, everything I loved was stripped away." The pinpricks along my scalp begin to itch, and I involuntarily begin to scratch at them with my nails on my right hand.

"You remember her specialty, right? Behavioral Neuroscience?" I look over at Eric, who's gaze is trained solely on me. "I became her pet project. She was constantly probing, experimenting, testing…" I say as I reach out with my other hand and take Eric's from the side of the ledge.

I bring it up to my scalp and press his fingers to where he can feel the scars. His eyes widen only a millimeter as he starts to feel all around my scalp, but enough to show he knows. He knows what scars feel like underneath his fingertips. Each one stokes his anger a little more.

"Everything became about my mind… and how to break it apart and put it back together the way she wanted. Like a broken doll. She wanted to trigger certain responses, essentially reprogram me to fit the ideals she tried to fill me with. It was a constant barrage of simulations. And each time I responded in a way that… displeased her… she would subject me to something worse."

Eric's anger seeps off him in waves. It isn't directed at me, but rather for me…which is comforting in a sense. He finally takes his hand away from head and places it back down on the ledge.

"Did it work?" He asks carefully.

The itching dulls, and I take my hand away. "Not the way she wanted."

"So what happened?"

"She broke me… my mind. It took her about four years, but she did it. I just don't think she realized to what extent."

"What do you mean?" His Erudite is showing with each question, he wants to know everything.

I take a breath and continue. "She stripped my amygdala. She spent four years trying to create a puppet, something only capable of doing and feeling nothing except what she 'programed' me to do. Instead, I absorb everything." I look at him to make sure he understands what I am saying.

He comprehends, and is beginning to fully understand. "She made you divergent."

I nod the affirmative. "I think it was always there… but what she did amplified it… and other things. I…I can feel… and hear… peoples thoughts, certain memories…"

"_Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?" _

"You're a reader."

I merely nod. "Sometimes it's a whisper, other times it's like someone said it out loud. Sometimes I get flashes of memories someone is subconsciously thinking about."

We sit there, silently, for a few more minutes while he takes everything in. He's skeptical. But there was nothing else to explain what I was able to do in that fight, how I had been excelling at all of the training so far. He wants to test what I claim.

I sigh. Of course he does. I get up and move off the ledge, back towards the door to the stairwell. He gets up quickly and follows after me. Pressing his weight to keep the door closed as my hand grabs the handle to open it.

XXX

AN: Sorry, shelter in place and work have been hectic/ stressful. Hope you liked this update.


	6. Chapter 6

Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 6

XXX

I feel his mind and body behind me. He isn't sure what to think. His mind hummed of internal conflict. The threat of Divergent's was long ago ruled inconsequential. If there were Divergents, they seemed to live silently and peacefully enough within the system. There was no reason to hunt something that effected fewer than one percent of the population, if that.

But Jeanine was different. Once she got an idea, there was no breaking it out of her. A Divergent would be the ultimate lab rat. If Jeanine had made me Divergent, and she knew… she would go to the ends of Hell to get me back to Erudite.

And that wasn't something that Eric was about to allow.

He felt possessive… Of the little mouse he remembered, and the woman before him. He still isn't quite sure how they are the same, but he wants to figure it out. Eric was always fiercely loyal to Simon and myself, even if he didn't want to admit it. In many ways we were the closest thing to a family he had growing up.

It was the same for Simon and me… Eric was family when Jeanine did not care to be.

His breath feel heavy on the back of my neck, and my skin prickles in response.

I wiggle around between him and the door to face him. He's a breath away from my face and I feel it catch him by surprise. His surprise is short lived, but not before a single thought starts to escape.

_"__I wonder if she…"_

He gets ahold of his conscious and quickly shuts whatever he was thinking down.

Whatever he was going to say though is interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket. He fishes it out without moving away from me.

"Yeah?" He says as he picks up. I can hear Max's voice on the other end, asking us to report to his office

"We'll be there in five minutes."

XXX

"The infirmary reports that Chad Volger sustained a broken nose, a cracked orbital, and a concussion." Max says as he hangs up the phone.

He had been on the phone with someone in the infirmary when Eric and I had entered his office. Tris and Four were also present, most likely after they got Lauren or Zeke to watch the rest of the transfers. Four and Tris stand on one side of the room, Eric on the other, and me directly in front of Max's desk.

Max is waiting for me to say something, to say Volger deserved it, or show some type of empathy for what I did to his face. I say nothing.

Max continues. "While the report I received last night didn't outright name Volger as one of your attackers, the infirmary did confirm that he was one of three transfer initiates that was treated and needed stitches last night."

Again, I say nothing.

Max smirks. "You handled yourself well. And while we aren't sure what they had planned, I doubt anyone would try and attack you again… But we won't be able to allow you to continue training with them."

Four, Tris, and Eric all begin speaking at the same time.

"Is that really necessary?" Eric says quickly.

"She didn't do anything wrong." Tris protests.

"He did attack her." Four chimes in.

Max tries waving his hand to get them to quiet down. "She'll train with the Dauntless born."

This does nothing to quiet anyone.

"They'll kill her." Tris shouts.

"She'd be at a disadvantage." Four tries to point out.

Eric just looks amused at the idiocy of it. "Really Max?"

"She wouldn't be at a disadvantage. She's already ahead of the other transfers in terms of skill. Putting her with the Dauntless born would challenge her more than staying with the transfers."

"That doesn't mean that they won't try and attack her like the transfers did." Tris points out.

I can feel Max conceded this point mentally. If I was able to best the Dauntless born, they would undoubtedly feel threatened, and their attack would be less likely to fail.

"She doesn't have to stay with them, just train with them." Max quickly decides.

I can feel the wheels tick in Eric's head now. "She could stay with me."

Four and Tris both flare in protective worry now. "That would hardly be fair Eric." Four retorts.

"She could stay with us." Tris offers.

Again, they are all bickering and a see of voices and angry thoughts. My brain feels foggy. It's starting to get crowded in here.

"She won't be staying with any of you. Any of you could be seen as providing an unfair advantage or influencing her scoring for initiation. She needs to stay with someone who has no influence on training or ranking. It has to be impartial and above reproach." Max says as he quickly picks up the phone.

"Alexis, can you please get my sister for me. Ask her to come to my office. Thank you." Max says quickly to who I assume is his secretary outside.

XXX

Max's sister, Zoe Washburne, was the head trauma nurse in the Dauntless infirmary, and Dauntless thru and thru. I could tell she ran a tight ship in the infirmary. When she entered Max's office, she greeted her brother fondly with a quick smile, before her demeanor changed into something more formal as she nodded curtly towards 'Coulter,' as she called Eric. Tris and Four received a little more warm greeting.

Zoe's back was stone stiff as Max filled her in on the situation. She may be a nurse, but she was a soldier none the less. She gave nothing away as Max talked, but did raise an eyebrow when she found out that I was the one who had sent Volger and the other transfers to the infirmary. She had been the one on call to stitch them up, and had to listen to them complain to each other about the "bitch who sliced them." Her amusement only intensified when it was explained I had been the one to send Volger back to the infirmary.

Zoe was quick to agree to allowing me the stay with her and her husband thru training.

"We'll send someone to collect your things and have them taken to Zoe's apartment." Max says at the end.

After that, everyone was quick to disperse. Tris and Four looked at me apologetically, but happy I would be staying somewhere safe thru the rest of my training. Eric looked annoyed as he left, clearly unhappy that he wouldn't be able to keep close tabs on me like he would have if I stayed with him.

"Thank you." It's the first thing I have said out loud during the entire meeting.

Max smiles warmly at me. "Before you go, I would like a word with you, privately." He says with a glance to Zoe.

She nods and leaves the room to step outside.

"I wanted to apologize." Max says as the door closes behind Zoe.

Max is cautious. He doesn't know quite what to make of me yet. But he was impressed with what he had heard so far.

"While I had imagined you would face some… difficulty, during training, I hadn't expected it to be this… eventful." He says with a small chuckle.

Honest. Max had been impressed with what he had read in Tris and Four's reports so far. Rankings weren't public yet, but I assume after today's fights I would be towards the top. I still don't know how I would be compared to the Dauntless born.

"Erudite Leader Matthews, has taken quite the interest in how this year's training is being run." He says as he stands from his desk. He moves towards me, vigilant and watchful, like a hawk.

"I'm sure she has." I say without giving much away.

"She's tried to institute no less than ten new rules to training protocol for all factions."

I inwardly groan. I had only heard of two new rules, not ten. It's curious that Max is telling me this though, and I let the surprise show minutely on my face to see if he will say more.

"While I can appreciate her… interest… Dauntless has its own set of rules. We will continue to push back when we can, despite her insistence." Max finishes as he stops in front of me and extends a hand for me to shake.

Again, honest. Apparently Jeanine hadn't been able to extend her reach into Dauntless. At least not thru Max. There were still other leaders I am sure she could try and sink her claws into, but knowing Max wasn't one of them was a little comforting.

I take his hand and shake it. "Sir." I say as he nods his head to dismiss me.

"I look forward to seeing what you bring to Dauntless, River." Max says as I turn and leave.

Zoe is waiting for me just on the other side, she appears to have just gotten off the phone, and I assume she called her husband to let them know they would have a house guest for the next eight weeks.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying before I have to run back to finish my shift. Wash will meet us there and can help you get settled a little more."

"Thank you." I say quietly and follow along, listening to the whispers of everyone we pass. News travelled fast in Dauntless, and I catch more than a few sideways glances from people curious to know more about all the fuss I was causing.

Zoe must catch me looking around out of the corner of her eye. "The gossip will die down soon enough. You're hardly the first to beat someone to a pulp during training." She says as we start winding our way into the residential area. "Maybe just the first female in awhile." She adds with a chuckle.

Zoe found the entire thing highly amusing. She was also more than a little intrigued that Jeanine Matthews' daughter transferred, and seemed to be excelling in my new home.

I shrug. "Nothing I'm not used to."

Zoe just continues marching straight towards our destination, not paying any mind to who is watching or listening. "I hope my brother didn't try to scare you, with his little talk."

"Why would you say that?"

"Book always was the serious type."

"Book?"

"Oh, sorry. Family nick name. Max was always a very serious child. Wanted to do everything 'by the book'."

I chuckle. I could imagine Max as a very serious child.

XXX

Zoe was in many ways the opposite of her husband, a Candor transfer, Hoban Washburne. Wash, as he asked me to call him, was one of the mechanics and drivers in the Dauntless patrol. They were an interesting pair, a study of opposites. He was gregarious where Zoe was stoic. She was graceful, where he was goofy.

They both quickly show me their apartment and the spare room. Zoe explains to Wash someone will be collecting my things for me. She dashes back to the infirmary to finish her shift, but not before giving her husband a kiss goodbye. It's in moments like that where you see why they fit together. The looks they give each other, and the pet name of lamby-toes that he calls her.

"Sorry it's not much." Wash says as we move back into the living room area. "Do you want anything to drink before they bring up your things? Water, juice, tea?"

"Tea would be great." I say as I sit at the counter in their kitchen.

We were several floors down from the floor Eric's apartment but it was just as spacious. Head trauma nurse would carry some weight with it, and I am sure Wash's position would also afford them a better housing allocation. The apartment isn't as Spartan as Eric's, it has little touches that make it feel lived in and full of memories. Pictures on the walls, mementos, and what looks like some Dinosaur statues in the bookcase. It felt homey, which was very different from anything I was used to.

"So what's the scoop on them moving you out of the training dorms?" Wash asks nonchalantly as he fills the kettle with water.

I shrug. "A few of the transfers tried to attack me last night. I beat one of them during training. Broke his face a bit."

"And they moved you out because of that?"

Again, I shrug. "They wanted to challenge me. I will be training with the Dauntless born."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Wash asks minutely confused. He had done well in training, but had been fairly middle of the pack. He also remembers what the Dauntless born in his year were like, and knows he wouldn't have stood a chance against them during training. He was a hell of a mechanic and driver, not much of a fighter.

"Max didn't think so."

"Sounds like all kinds of wacky fun to me." He says sarcastically as the water in the kettle starts to boil and there is a rather forceful knock at the door.

I catch a string of thoughts on the other side, ones that are not happy.

But before I can say anything, or move to answer the door myself, Wash moves quickly to open it. "That must be your stuff."

He's met with the very grumpy Eric, holding a box of things.

Wash's mind is completely taken aback as to why Eric Coulter of all people would be at his door. "Eh, can I help you Coulter?" Wash asks confused.

"I brought her things." Eric says as he shoves them towards Wash and sidesteps him to enter the apartment.

"Uh, sure come on in then." Wash says mildly disgruntled.

Eric pays him no attention and moves directly to me. "We need to talk." He says as he finally seems to acknowledge Wash and gives him a look that tells him to leave, even thought it's Wash's home and not Eric's.

Wash tries to ignore Eric as he stands there and looks between the two of us.

"Alone." Eric retorts.

I look over to Wash apologetically and he throws me an understanding, albeit, mildly confused smile and nod. "I'll just go put these in the spare room. Play with my dinosaurs while I am at it."

I smile in appreciation as he walks past us carrying my things. When I hear the door click behind him, I turn back to Eric.

XXX

AN: I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this time. I have been more than a little off as a result of everything going on in the world, and work has actually been extremely stressful during this time. Updates may be sporadic, but I am trying. Hope you enjoyed this update and the addition of a few familiar faces (more to come). Stay safe!


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